Munich returns to open source: GoFAST, the sovereign alternative for a successful exit from Microsoft

By GoFAST-Team on
Munich returns to open source

Munich returns to open source: GoFAST, the sovereign alternative for a successful exit from Microsoft

The City of Munich is once again turning its back on proprietary software. As reported by ZDNet, the Bavarian capital has made open source the standard for its software purchases. This time, it is starting with its infrastructure and collaboration tools, rather than with desktop workstations.

Concrete choices and quantified savings

Munich is replacing several proprietary components with open source alternatives:

  • Virtualisation: VMware is giving way to Proxmox.
  • Collaboration and project management: Jira and Confluence are being replaced by OpenProject and XWiki.
  • Databases: PostgreSQL becomes the alternative to Oracle.

The infrastructure and collaboration tool migrations alone are expected to save the city around €1.5 million per year. Moving away from proprietary licences is therefore not only a matter of sovereignty: it is also a direct budgetary lever.

A failure that was not technical

Munich had already tried this path with LiMux, its own Linux distribution, before returning to Microsoft in 2017. For Laura Dornheim, who is in charge of the city's digital affairs, the lesson is clear: "Open source in the public sector does not fail because of technical problems". When it fails, it is mainly because it is not backed by the political agenda.

This is exactly what we see in the field: a migration succeeds when the decision is fully owned at the highest level. The City of Nanterre proved it: its municipal executive board approved the exit from Microsoft in January 2024, and Teams and SharePoint were then replaced in less than a month, with no service interruption. The Haute-Savoie Departmental Council also completed its exit from SharePoint for more than 3,000 employees.

What about Linux on the desktop?

For now, Munich is not returning to Linux workstations. Yet this step is entirely realistic: CEO-Vision has already migrated several workstations to Linux. Accessible from a simple web browser, GoFAST works independently of the operating system, which makes the switch to Linux easier.

GoFAST, the open source and sovereign alternative to Microsoft 365

GoFAST brings together on a single platform, built on proven open source components:

  • Document management, with Alfresco.
  • Document co-editing, with OnlyOffice.
  • Workflows, with Bonitasoft.
  • Chat and videoconferencing, with Element and Jitsi.
  • Sovereign AI, with Mistral AI.

GoFAST is hosted On-Premise or as a dedicated SaaS on SecNumCloud-qualified infrastructure. It replaces SharePoint, Teams, Office and Exchange, reduces licensing costs and keeps you in control of your data.

Discover GoFAST